The Artist

Chapter 3

Mia felt her pony tail swishing back and forth and her adidas slapped against the cement stairs that she was jogging up in the noisy stadium. She had really wanted a beer but absolutely couldn't pry herself away from the game until halftime... the only problem was everyone else felt the same way.

When she got to the nearest vendor the line was already so long she knew she'd be standing there forever. She decided to jog down to the next one and got in line, pulling out her phone and answering a few texts while she passed the time.

Mia was just slipping her phone back into the pocket of her tight jeans when she heard a deep voice call out her name. She looked around but figured it was just her imagination. It was so noisy that you could barely hear yourself think, let alone hear someone. She shrugged it off but then heard it again.

She turned her head to look at and that was when she saw a man hurrying through the crowd toward her. The breath caught in her throat when she saw him get closer and she was able to see that sculpted beautiful bearded face. He was drop dead gorgeous, that much was obvious. But he was just... ugh. Mia couldn't even put her finger on it. He just was so warm, charming, funny and straight up wonderful. They had clicked so much that night that Mia figured it was for the best she hadn't ever seen him again but fate apparently had a different plan.

As the hunky man approached her, she didn't know that he was internally freaking out as he wondered if she would even remember him. If Chris could read her thoughts though, he'd know that he had nothing to worry about. Mia mind had wandered to him more than she thought it should have over the past few weeks but she tried to push that all out of her mind as she shined her dimpled smile and greeted him once he made it to her, "Hi Chris, I didn't expect to see you here but... wait. Oh my god, what in the world are you wearing?"

One of Chris' dark eyebrows shot up as his blue eyes visibly looked her up and down and made a face, "I was about to ask you the same thing. The Eagles, really?"

"You have a Patriots jersey on. Ew, that's disgusting," Mia overdramatically rolled her eyes before bringing her slender hands to her hips. "Let me guess, it's a Brady jersey too, isn't it?"

"Oh don't even fahkin' insult Brady," Chris' Boston accent came through, making the dark haired woman laugh. "You can't even stand there and try to tell me Tom Brady isn't amazing when you're wearing an Eagles jersey! We're not friends anymore."

"I didn't know we were friends to begin with," Mia joked.

The tall hunky man's knees bent as he tipped back and slapped a hand to his chest, barking out loud laughter. She was sassy. Chris liked that... in fact, he like that a lot.

"So are you here with the boyfriend?" Chris asked her as they shuffled up another spot in line.

Mia glanced up at him before she shook her head and said, "No, he's not into football."

"Wow, sounds like you guys need to break up," She heard Chris mutter, making her eyes squint up while she laughed. "Here with friends?"

Mia nodded, "Yeah, you?"

Chris had his hands in his pockets while he told her, "Some friends and my brother who is in town for a little while."

Mia didn't get to ask anymore questions now that they were at the front of the line and Chris motioned for her to order first before stepping up and ordering beers for him and his friends, putting money down for them as well as for Mia's.

"Chris you don't need to buy my beer," She insisted while scooting the money that he had put down on the counter back toward him and pulled out her own cash.

He handed the money to the cashier before putting a big warm hand on Mia's to keep her from pulling out her money and simply said, "You can get the next one sometime."

She couldn't help but smile softly as she thought that he was planning that there would be another time. Mia thanked him before she quickly ducked her head though to hide her smile, pretending to pick a piece of lint off of her black jeans before lifting her head back up.

Chris took his tray of beers and tried to maneuver fitting the other one in so that he could carry it but Mia offered, "I'll walk back with you," Before taking the extra beer in her free hand.

On the way to where Chris was sitting, the pair chatted about the game. Each of them got animated while talking about specific plays which quickly turned to trash talking and Mia simply told him, "Well we'll see if your precious Brady can manage to catch up to the Eagles... but I doubt it."

"Oh Tom is going to do it. Don't you worry. Just make sure you have some tissues for when you're crying at the end of the game," Chris taunted her, finally making it to the box he was sitting in and pulled the door open, propping it open with his foot for her.

"Wow, a box, someone you're with is fancy," Mia joked, figuring someone either was rich enough to afford a box or had some connection to the team and was able to get it.

Chris didn't respond though and instead just followed her inside and handed one of his friends the tray before taking the extra beer in Mia's hands and gave it to Scott as he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you Mia," Scott smiled at her before looking at Chris and then back to the short woman, "Are you joining us for the rest of the game, because if you are, that Eagles jersey is going to have to go."

"Oh hell no, I'd die before I let you heathens put a Patriots jersey on me," Mia made a face that caused both of the brothers to laugh. "I'd have to go home and scrub my entire body to detox."

"You'd love it, don't even lie," Chris playfully rolled his eyes.

Mia was taking a sip of her beer but still was able to give him a look, making him laugh all over again before she said, "Excuse me while I go barf."

"Hopefully you'd barf on that hideous jersey," Was the quick response Chris fired at her.

She tried to stop it but she couldn't help but laugh at his response. He just was so damn... likable.

"Do you go to a lot of the games?" Mia asked, wanting to make conversation since she wasn't quite ready to leave yet.

"As often as I can," He nodded. "I love getting to be here and feel the energy and everything. But I always watch all the games."

"Chris just remodeled his house recently and got a huge tv specifically for football games," Scott piped in, making Mia laugh.

"He just wants to see Tom Brady's ass in high definition," Mia put a hand up to her mouth and pretended to loudly whisper to Scott.

Chris erupted with laughter before he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, "Maybe."

The group stood there chatting a little while longer but when the game was about to resume, Mia told them, "Well I should get back to my seat."

"You and your friends are welcome to come hang out here," Chris offered, hoping to get to spend more time with her but didn't want to come across too forward, knowing she had a boyfriend.

Mia just shook her head and said, "Thanks, but I just can't handle being in a room with a bunch of crying men when the Eagles dominate the poor little Patriots."

"Oooh, watch ya' mouth," His Boston accent came through again as he smiled and pointed a finger at her.

She laughed before turning to head to the door. Mia had just put her hand on it as Chris was desperately thinking of a way to make a connection so he could see her again and called out, "Mia!"

"Yeah?" The brunette turned and looked back at him.

"Hey, so like my brother was saying, I just finished remodeling my house," He took the few steps between them to close the gap. "And well I haven't found any art for the walls yet so I was thinking maybe I'll just have to hire you to paint something for me."

She was quiet for a moment, looking down at her tennis shoes before she lifted her head and looked into his sparkling blue eyes and gave a simple response with a big smile, her dimples showing up.

"You can't afford me."